We have four geldings, all nearly 12 years old. Their names are: Faro, Fyta, Fergus and Fidget. We started keeping Alpacas with these 4 boys in June 2007 and although we had up to eight boys for several years, we have now reverted to keeping our original four. Through this blog we hope to show how much pleasure can be had from owning Alpacas.

OUR SMALL HERD

Our four boys came from Ardo Alpacas in Aberdeenshire. We are not alpaca breeders and have our boys purely as pets. Our experience is that you don't need to be a breeder and that a 'batchelor herd' can give much pleasure to the owner.
We have 5 acres including our big garden and grazing for the boys, 15 miles north of Inverness, Scotland. I spin, knit, felt and crochet with the fleece from the boys.

Clicking!!

Just a reminder that clicking on (most) of the photos will show them greatly enlarged.

Sunday, 23 October 2011

The Sunday Post!

It's been a week of really dismal weather, lots of rain making the paddocks very muddy, gales, some sun and earlier in the week, a heavy dusting of snow on the hills. This morning dawned brighter with Fidget up and about early on for a nibble on the grass. He takes on this quizzical look when the camera is around, unsure if it's something to eat!

We've also had frosts this week as can be seen on Wee Eck's back.

Gaucho standing near the catch pen and showing off his lovely colour. It's good to see that the boys' fleece is now thickening up nicely for the coming winter.

Fyta and his Bermuda shorts!

Gully with his two-tone coloured top knot.

Next door to the boys in the bottom paddocks are the chicken runs. Now that the weather has turned much colder, the birds have decided to moult and the chicken house is full of discarded feathers. It happens every year and the hens start to look like a sorry bunch with one losing it's tail feathers completely. 'Duncan' doesn't look at his best now but he'll be resplendent in the new year ready to show off to his ladies. The Maran (top left) is a young bird but the other two hens are now 8 years old and have taken on a new lease of life since Dunk arrived in early summer.

And finally........ adding a splash of Autumn colour to the garden is this Acer tree with the remnants of the Crocosmia (Montbretia) plants beneath it.

Yes it's weird isn't it...just as it begins to turn a little colder and you'd think they'd hang on to their plumage...the hens moult!! Love those bermuda shorts but maybe they're not quite the right attire for this time of year?!